Recently, I’ve been in a reading slump. I started a book a month ago that I bought from a local bookstore, but I didn’t like the start of it. Half of my kindle library is full of books I started but never got around to finish.

I saw this book recommended on another’s blog and I thought I’d check it out. The cover was cute, and when I read the blurb, I fell in love with the idea. I will say, it defiantly is not very original, but it got me intrigued.

On to the review!

Cover and Blurb

Jude Carpenter likes his life. Sure, his mom is a little intense sometimes, and sure, it would be great if his older brother would help out more on their family dairy farm, but overall, Jude is happy. That is, until he finds out his family could lose their farm, and Jude’s life goes from peaceful stability to tense uncertainty.

Enter Mona Montgomery, whose life revolves around her cat, Shakespeare, the Beatles, and church. There’s not much else to do in Clearwater. Then she meets Jude, and life gets interesting.

With Jude’s family losing their dairy farm, Mona is desperate to help. Though helping isn’t as easy as she had hoped it would be. Jude’s mom distrusts the Montgomery family, and that includes Mona. Mona’s family did split a whole church, after all.

Romeo and Juliet had less trouble being near each other than Jude and Mona do. As time slips by and the deadline to lose the farm approaches, can Mona help Jude save the farm he loves?

Review

Characters

I would say that the two main characters, Jude and Mona, could use more force of personality. Especially in the beginning, I got really mixed up knowing who was who since their voices in their chapters sounded the same. They are both sweet, innocent introverts. I defiantly liked Jude a little more than Mona, I think he had a bit more personality than her. I immediately fell in love with Ben. Maybe it’s because I show rabbits (like Ben, I’m also permanently fluffy), or maybe it was his cute personality, he was definitely my favorite.

Also, the cows. The author actually (get this) made the animals act like animals. Revolutionary!

Also, I got really confused between the moms. They both had very similar personalities and ways of handling things.

I did enjoy the characters, but a lot of them could 100% used more personality.

3/5

Setting

I love the idea of small town settings. I personally live in a more developed city, but I have always wanted to move to a small town like in the country songs. Clearwater was a very fun setting. I will say, it did get a little boring, having the characters basically be in/at the same place in every chapter, but the idea of Clearwater did make me feel very cozy.

I loved the way the author described the setting. Not too detailed, but not too vague. I had a constant picture in my mind of what everything looked like. Mona’s house was very warm and cozy, Jude’s farm was beautiful, and the church descriptions were really nice. Super cute setting.

4.5/5

Plot

No spoilers, I promise!

Honestly, the book started out really slow. It basically just described the characters’ normal lives for, like, the first five chapters. It wasn’t super intriguing at first. Then it started to pick up speed, but then there were another five chapters that were super slow and didn’t really add anything to the story. By the end, I didn’t want to put the book down. So there’s that.

The whole story gave off Hallmark vibes. It’s definitely a great book to read around Christmas time. It’s a bit repetitive and 100% predictable, but it’s a cute and cozy kind of predictable. Just like Hallmark.

I will add, the stakes often didn’t seem too high. When Jude learns about the family loosing the farm, it’s only super dramatic for two chapters. Then girl drama comes in, and it seems like there’s not much mention of the farm until later.

3.5/5

Writing Style

The author did a pretty good job writing this book. There was a lot of telling and not much showing. And some sentences seemed really out of place. The characters didn’t really have a voice of their own in their chapters.

But the whole story gave off such a cute vibe and in the end the story was very heartwarming (especially the prologue!). So props to the Shultz for pulling that off!

4/5

Romance

SOOOOOOO CUTE!

I don’t want to spoil anything, but it’s clean and super duper cute. UGH, I can’t stop gushing over how cute. SOOOOO CUTE!

Ahem.

5/5

Conclusion

I would highly recommend this book to any middle/freshman in high school/anyone who wants to read it, especially during Christmas. It’s a cute, light, heartwarming book for a quick December read. The vibes, y’all. It’s worth it.

Overall, I’d give this book a 3.5/5. Wasn’t my most favorite, but certainly a good one.